The Andhra Pradesh High Court has issued a temporary halt on all proceedings in the trial court against former Chief Minister of the state, N Chandrababu Naidu, until September 18 in relation to the Andhra Pradesh skill development program scam case (Nara Chandrababu Naidu vs State of Andhra Pradesh).
Justice K Sreenivasa Reddy has also directed that the State Crime Investigation Department (CID) cannot take Naidu into custody until September 18, and he will continue to remain in judicial custody. The High Court is scheduled to revisit the case on September 19.
This development arises from Naidu's appeal against the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court's decision to place him in judicial custody for 14 days regarding the skill development program scam.
The investigation revolves around allegations that government funds earmarked for a skill development project were diverted to various shell companies through fraudulent invoices that did not correspond with the delivery of services.
Naidu was arrested and subsequently remanded to judicial custody on September 10 by a special court in Vijayawada, which handles cases investigated by the ACB.
In his plea against the CID's remand report, Naidu contended before the special court that he had been wrongly implicated in the case. He also argued that there was a clear violation of Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which necessitates prior authorization to investigate public servants for actions performed in their official capacity. Naidu asserted that, as the Chief Minister, the State Governor should have been the sanctioning authority.
However, Special Judge BSV Himabindu determined that the available evidence prima facie established a case against Naidu for offenses under both the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act. Consequently, he was remanded to judicial custody, leading to the current appeal before the High Court.
TAGS: Andhra Pradesh High Court interim stay ACB court proceedings N Chandrababu Naidu Skill Development case State Crime Investigation Department judicial custody September 18 September 19 Anti-Corruption Bureau skill development program scam government funds shell companies fraudulent invoices special court Vijayawada Prevention of Corruption Act Chief Minister State Governor sanctioning authority Indian Penal Code remand order plea High Court.
